Headlight for bicycles, magnetic drive



F. EVANS. HEADLIGHT FOR BICYCLES, MAGNETIC DRIVE.

a APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, I920. iAl 1,61 7. 4

2 SHEE FS-SHEET Patented Apr. 4, 1922 F. EVANS. HEADLIGHT E08 BICYCLES, MAGNETIC DRIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZG, [920. 1,41 1,617. Patented Apr. 4, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET UNITED STATES PATENT (JFFlCE.

FRED EVANS, OFSUMMIT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO LOUIS V. ARONSON, O33 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

HEADLIGHT FOB BIGYGLES, MAGNETIC DRIVE.

Patented Apr. 4:, 1922.

Application filed June 26, 1920. Serial No. 392,024.

To all whom it may concern: 2

Be it known that I, FRED Evans, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Summit, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Headlights for Bicycles, Magnetic Drive, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX act description, such as will enable others skilled in the an to which it pertains to make, construct, and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to numerals of reference marked thereon, forming a part'of this specification.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel bracketfor use in connection with bicycles, motorcycles and the like, for the support thereon of a magneto in position to be operated directly from a ground wheel, and for the support also of a combined head and tail-lamp, embodying an incandescent lamp, which is connected in circuit with the magneto so that the incandescent lamp may be caused to glow whenever the magneto is operated.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby to maintain the magneto either in or out of operative relation with respect to the ground wheel.

The invention also aims to provide a combination of the character specified, which shall be of simple and economical construction and which shall be facile and eficient of operation and of great durability.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I illustrate the preferred form of my present invention,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved device as applied to a bicycle, fractionally shown.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the magneto, shown as a unit with a part of the casing removed.

Figure 3 is a top plan view, showing the magneto in section, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure at is a top plan view ofthe device with the magneto unit broken away. 7

Figure 5 is a side elevation and section of the parts shown in Figure 4.

The parts of a bicycle shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings comprise a ground wheel 6, equipped with a pneumatic tire 7, and a steering fork 8 whose arms 9 straddle the wheel in the usual way. 7 I

10 and 11 represent,respectively, abracket and a clamping element, each cast between its ends, as best shown in Fig. a, with an outwardly bowed region 12, designed to embrace an arm 9 of the steering fork, and these parts, on opposite sides of the bowed regions 12, are bound together by means of thebolt and nut structures 13 and 14. The forward portion of thebracket 10 is made with an upward curve 15 which merges into a disk-shaped head 16, provided with a cen tral aperture 17 18 is a pin which extends through the aperture 17, and on which is mounted for turning movement a disk-shaped head 19. These arts are held in proper operative relation y the nuts 19, threadedly applied to the opposite ends of the pin 18., The disk shaped head 19 is cast with a web 20, made integral with a cast drum-shaped magneto shell consisting of a circular side plate 21 and a projecting peripheral flange 22. The open side of this casing is closed by a circular plate 23, to the inner side of which, diametrically thereacross, is secured a bar 24C of a length to fit inside the flange 22. This die plate 23 may be secured to the flange 22 by screws or other suitable means. Journaled for rotation at 25 in the bar 2% and at 26 in an exterior boss 27. formed centrally for the purpose on the side plate 21, is a shaft 28 which projects over the pneumatic tire 7 and to'which is made fast a roller 29 in position to have frictional engagement with the tread of said tire.

' Made fast to the shaft 28 within the casing is a permanent magnet 30, formed with a plurality of branches 31.,which work be tween a corresponding number of cores 32, coil wound in-series to form an armature, and supported on a ring 33 which is secured to the inner face of the side plate 21. Under this arrangement, the rotation of the ground wheel 6 will spin the magnet between the armature cores so as to set up a current in the coils thereof, in a manner that will be well understood; and in order to maintain'the roller in proper operative engagementwith the tire when a current is desired, I preferably employ a coiled spring 3st which is connected between an eye screw 35, attached to the flange 22 below the web 20, and the adjacent upwardly curved part 15 of the bracket. This spring not only draws the casing downwardly to keep the roller in proper frictional engagement with the tire, but it yields to permit upward movement of the casing in response tothe turning of the roller on any mud or foreign substance that may adhere to the tire.

One feature of the invention consists in the rovision of means for locking the casing in elevated position against the action of the 8 ring and with the roller wholly disengage from the tire. In carrying out this feature I provide in the circumference of the dis -sl1aped head 19 an opening 36, rece tive of the end of a plunger 37, operatively held in the lugs 38 of a bracket 39 which is attached by means of screws 40 to the curved part 15 of the bracket (Fig. 5). Coiled around this plunger and confined between a collar 41 thereon and the lower lug 3 8, is a spring 42 which urges the plunger into upward position with the top end thereof bearing on the circumference of the head 19 so that when the casin is elevated sufficiently to remove the rolfer from the'tire,

the plunger will enter the opening 36, thereby locking t ona The opposite or rear end of the bracket 10 is cast with an outwardly ofi'set portion 43, to which is pinned at 44a hollow hornshaped support 45, on the 0 on end of which is secured a cylindrica lon itudinally curved lamp casing 46. "In the orward or larger endof this casing is set a head-light lens 47, and in the rear or smaller end thereof, is set a tail-light lens 48, preferably colored red. 49 is an incandescent lamp whose base. is threaded into a tubular the casing in such elevated posi socket 50, flanged at 51 so as to be secured by means of rivets 52 to the inner side of the casing 46 and around an opening 53 cut therein, to permit aconducting sprin 'qiiat to; engage the terminal of the lamp. aid

. conducting spring is held by a binding post 55,. attached to a plate of insulating material 56, which is secured by a binding or conducting screw 57 to the outer face of the casing 46 within the base 45. This screw 57 is also threaded into the flange 51 of the 7 socket.

t an

The op site ends 58 and59 Fi 2 of the armature winding are engaged .with

posts 60 and 61, respective y, ar-

ran in the magneto casing flange 22 but 'insil'latedtherefrorn by the nset eye'let deie r m' h b ing P a condpeting wire 63 leads through an insulating p ided in th upported n ease. on ectsith he ndin p st whence t urrent pas e thr gh the i g 5 t th mp There n isacc pasta-1- through the lamp b socket connection with the drawings, it will be seen that I provide simple and efiicient means by which to hold the magneto'either in or out of operative relation with respect to the ground wheel, that by means of the magneto, during the travel of the bicycle,.current may be produced to provide a continuous head and tail-light when desired, and that due to the form of the bracket, the lamp is so held in offset relation that the rays cast therefrom both front and rear have an unobstructed path. 1

Experience has demonstrated that p the organization above described is a highly efficient one, and while I have shown the preferred embodiment of mypresent invention, I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as obvious modifications thereof, not involving the exercise of invention, may be made by any skilled mechanic, and such departures from what is herein set forth, I consider within the scope and terms of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim-is:

1. In a self-contained lighting unit for bicycles and thelike, an elongated bracket having means for being clamped on a frame part in relation to a ground wheel and hav ing a disk-shaped head, a magneto casing having a projecting portion provided with an opening in pivotal engagement with said head, a magneto operatively disposed in the casing and having an operating shaft projecting therefrom and provided with a friction clement adapted to make contact with to said bracket forlocking the casing in position whereat the friction element is rigidly maintained out of engagnmentwith h a und wh el.

2. The combination with an eloag'atbd bracket having a head end and an ofiset end, of a magneto casing havin a pro'ect' p01- ti n-pivo ailly engagcd it sai ede and; H

said projecting portion provided with an open1ng, a magneto operative 1y disposed in the cas ng and ha ing an op r ing slim pr je tmg therafrom'and Provided with a friction element adapted to make .QQDtM i arotary elementa spring connectin the casing projection with .t'he racket i911 draw ng the easing into position to effect such contact, a spring-urged plunger attached to said bracket and adapted to enter whereby t0 ceuse the latter to glow when the the opening in said projecting portion for former is operated. 10 locking the casing rigidly with the bracket This specification signed and witnessed against the action of-the spring, a. head and this 15th day of June, 1920.

tail light casing supported on said ofiset FRED EVANS. bracket end and pi'ovlded with an lncandes- Vhtnesses: cent lamp, and circuit connectlons between FREDK C. Fisonnn,

said magneto and said incandescent lamp F. NOLL. 

